This invention relates to auxiliary equipment for facilitating the removal of reeled wire from wire-carrying spools.
In the past, a number of unreeling devices have been proposed and produced. Typically, such devices employed a disk that was carried at one end of the spool, with a series of flexible fingers or tines extending radially outward therefrom past peripheral portions of the spool flange. Generally, as the wire being unreeled was drawn past the periphery of the disk, it brushed by the flexible fingers, which tended to impart a drag to the wire.
A typical arrangement is disclosed in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,647 issued Feb. 4, 1969, in which a disk carried at one end of a wire-carrying spool is provided with multiple embedded tines. While such an arrangement operated satisfactorily, the wide spacing between the tines did not offer the desired resistance to the free movement of the wire as the tension in it was reduced. In addition, the manufacture of a disk having multiple embedded tines similar to those disclosed in the above patent tended to be expensive. Also, with extremely thin wire, the use of a disk having widely spaced tines often did not provide adequate protection against kinking and excessive looseness.
The above disadvantages and drawbacks of prior devices of the above type are obviated by the present invention, which has for an object the provision of a novel and improved wire take-off device which is extremely simple in construction, reliable in operation, and which is constituted of readily available materials, thus resulting in a product which is exceptionally low in cost. In addition, it has been found to be very effective in preventing looseness and kinking of unreeling wire as the take-off speed is being reduced, or as the wire is being halted. The extreme simplicity of the device involves no special tooling, and accordingly the manufacture thereof can be readily modified to provide different configurations adaptable to various types of equipment as well as different sizes of wire spools. It is thus useable with a wide range of wire sizes and speeds.
The above objects are accomplished by a tension brush assembly for use with a wire-carrying spool, comprising a support body having a pair of annular members constituted of sheet material adapted to be placed one upon another, a multiplicity of flexible and resilient tines clamped between the members and extending radially outward beyond peripheral edge portions thereof, the outer ends of the tines being free and unattached, and means for securing the members together such that the inner portions of the tines are clamped therebetween. In a preferred embodiment, the members are stitched together at their outer peripheral portions, with the stitches also extending adjacent to portions of the radially disposed tines. Optionally, glue or cement is employed to secure the members together, as well as to retain the tines in fixed positions with respect thereto. Also, novel means are provided for releasably securing the tension brush assembly to a spool, thereby greatly simplifying the procedures involved with removal of wire therefrom.